Food Safety

I am a stickler when it comes to food safety! For a time, I worked in the kitchen of a local bar and grill for fun. In doing so, I honed some of my skills and learned a lot! (Guess you CAN teach old dogs new tricks!) The biggest takeaway from working in a restaurant was the constant diligence of food prep safety, rotating ingredients and LABELING and DATING! How often have you looked in your freezer and asked yourself, “What is this? I don’t even remember making that!”

When you prepare meals for yourself, your family, and your friends, it is important to follow simple food safety tips to help prevent foodborne illness, also known as “food poisoning.” There are some easy steps you can take to help keep your food safe all the way from the grocery store, to the kitchen table and to the freezer.

Clean
Wash, wash and wash some more!! Always wash your hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling food. In addition, when handling raw meat and fish, I always wear disposable plastic or latex gloves. If you wear gloves, throw them away each time you switch from one task to another or wash them with hot, soapy water.

Separate
Don't cross-contaminate! Keep raw meat, poultry, fish, and their juices away from other food. After cutting raw meats, wash your cutting board, utensils, and countertops with hot, soapy water.

Cutting boards, utensils, and countertops can be sanitized by using a solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach in 1 gallon of water.

Marinate meat and poultry in a covered dish or sealed baggie in the refrigerator. I do double-duty with sealed baggies and put the baggie in a dish just in case they leak. Anyone who’s ever had to clean out their refrigerator after raw chicken leaks, knows my pain!

Thawing

The old days of leaving food out on the counter to thaw are gone! We now know more about food safety than ever! That is why meal planning is so important. *We’ll learn more about meal planning in an upcoming blog feature!

Refrigerator: The refrigerator allows slow, safe thawing. Make sure thawing meat and poultry juices do not drip onto other food by placing them on a plate, in a bowl or in a baggie. Never place uncovered, open food in the refrigerator to thaw!

Cold Water: For faster thawing, place food in a leak-proof plastic bag. Submerge in cold tap water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Cook immediately after thawing.

Microwave: Though I am not a fan of the microwave for thawing, I know sometimes you’re in a pinch. Use the “Defrost” feature of the microwave when thawing meat and poultry. If you use a higher setting, you will cook the outside of the meat while the inside remains raw. Mmmm! Rubbery on the outside and raw on the inside … YUCK! Cook meat and poultry immediately after microwave thawing.

Cook

Cook all raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F (62.8 ºC) as measured with a food thermometer, before removing meat from the heat source. *Laurie’s Note: Invest in a good, instant-read, digital meat thermometer if you don’t already have one! Waiting for a traditional thermometer to register takes too much time, you often can’t read the exact temperature, and you lose the preheated setting of an oven or grill while you wait.

For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming. For reasons of personal preference, you may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures. *Laurie’s Note: If you cook your steaks well done, we can no longer be friends!

Ground meats: Cook all raw ground beef, pork, lamb, and veal to an internal temperature of 160 °F (71.1 ºC).

Poultry: Cook all poultry to an internal temperature of 165 °F (73.9 °C).

Serving

• Hot food should be held at 140 °F (60 °C) or warmer.

• Cold food should be held at 40 °F (4.4 ºC) or colder.

When serving food at a buffet, keep food hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays. Keep food cold by nesting dishes in bowls of ice or use small serving trays and replace them often.

Perishable food should not be left out more than 2 hours at room temperature—1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F (32.2 ºC). So this summer when you are out at a picnic, bring a cooler of ice to keep food safe to eat!

Leftovers
Discard any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours—1 hour if the temperature was above 90 °F (32.2 ºC). I hate to tell you pizza lovers out there, but getting up the next day after partying all night and eating that pizza left on the counter, is a big NO NO!

Place food into shallow containers and immediately put in the refrigerator or freezer for rapid cooling.

Use cooked leftovers within 4 days. Reheat leftovers to 165 °F (73.9 °C).

Chill
Meat and poultry defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If thawed by other methods, cook before refreezing.

References: I give credit where credit is due! Find this and more information on the USDA’s Keep Food Safe! Food Safety Basics website.